Pathology

Overview of Pathology

Pathology is the study of disease. It is a medical science that deals with all aspects of disease. It provides special focus to the essential nature, causes, and development of abnormal conditions, as well as to the structural and functional changes that result from disease processes. Pathologists study:

causes of disease (etiology)
how various internal and external problems or injuries affect certain cells and tissues
progression of disease in the human body (pathogenesis)
how disease presents itself
methods for monitoring disease progression

Pathology provides a scientific foundation for clinical medicine and serves as a bridge between the basic sciences and patient care. Clinical pathology includes all of the functions performed in the analytical work of the clinical laboratory, such as:

hematology - the science concerned with blood and blood-forming tissue.
chemistry - the science that deals with the molecular and anatomic structures of matter, and the composition of substances.
blood banking - the places where blood is processed, typed, stored, and broken down into components until needed by patients.
microbiology - the science that studies microorganisms, the tiny living bodies not visible to the naked eye, such as bacteria, yeasts, molds, and so forth.
histology - the study of microscopic tissues within the body such as cells.
cytology - the sciences that deals with the formation, structure, and formation of cells.
autopsy - the examination and study of organs and tissues of the human body after death to determine cause of death and other contributing conditions.

Types of Pathology

General Pathology is concerned with the mechanisms underlying disease processes made visible by morphologic (cellular and ultrastructural), physiologic, and biochemical changes. There are many other specific fields of pathology, including:

Blood Banking
Clinical Chemistry
Cytopathology
Dermatopathology
Forensic Pathology
Hematopathology
Immunopathology
Neuropathology
Pediatric Pathology

Pathology plays a particularly important role in preventive medicine by ruling out diseases or detecting them early. The medical laboratory is one of the first stops in preventive medicine, which puts pathology among the most important health care services. Because it is predicted that preventive medicine will continue to become even more important in the next decade, laboratory and medical testing will be in greater demand to rule out incorrect diagnoses, to detect diseases early -- in many cases before any symptoms arise, and to insure that a chosen treatment is working to the benefit of patients.

This page was last updated on: May 31, 2006.